Vancouver Island’s Comox Valley is hosting Dine Around for the next few weeks, offering up set price, multi-course menus at over 20 restaurants. They hosted a group of media this week and I was one of the lucky diners who got to sample dishes from a handful of the participating venues.
Restaurants
Dine Around restaurants are hosting $17, $27, or $37 menus (per person) for this campaign that will run until March 17, 2013.
Our Dine Around Tour
Bisque Cafe – $37 Dine Around menu
Chef Steve Dodd prepared an array of appetizer samples for our group that included Fanny Bay oysters casino, fresh shrimp ravioli, duck pate with Comox brie, local clams sauteed in white wine, and house-smoked sockeye salmon.
Blackfin Pub – $27 Dine Around Menu
We had each of the appetizer options that included seafood chowder, spinach and arugula salad, and a prawn stack with a rice cake prepared by Chef Nigel McMeans and his team.
The Union Street Grill & Grotto – $17 Dine Around Menu
You can imagine how full we were getting at this point but the beer and wine flights, roasted squash lasagna, grilled Caesar salad, risotto, and seafood platter were irresistible. The staff was very knowledgeable and I had to take a photo of their complete gluten free menu as it was the most extensive that I’ve ever seen at a restaurant.
Locals – $37 Dine Around menu
There’s always room for dessert! Especially when it’s Chef Ronald St. Pierre’s white chocolate and matcha green tea Bavarian mousse and coconut lime panna cotta with Comox Valley bumbleberry.
Actual dishes may or may not appear exactly as shown since we were served family style for a few options.
How to Get There
From Vancouver, take the Horseshoe Bay ferry crossing to Departure Bay. From Tsawwassen, take the Nanaimo ferry over to Duke Point. Courtenay, Comox, and Cumberland are located about 70 minutes north of Nanaimo just off the Island Highway.
The scenery is awe-inspiring with snow-capped mountain views that drape down to sandy shores and seashell-covered beaches. I did a quick 24-hour trip this time but if you have a weekend to explore, book a reservation at a Dine Around restaurant (or four) and then pop in at Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, Natural Pastures Cheeses, Fanny Bay Oysters, Island Bison, Beaufort Wines, and many other destinations along the way that will inspire your inner chef.
Accommodation packages are also available through the Best Western Westerly Hotel & Conference Centre, Travelodge Courtenay, Comox Valley Bed & Breakfast Association, and The Old House Village Hotel & Spa. We had Ambassador Shuttle Service driving us around all night as well, which was very handy since there were wine pairings at each location.
Dine Around Contest
The Vancouver Island Visitor Centre, @VIVisitorCentre on Twitter, will be able to help you plan your time away. Check them out on Facebook to enter to win prizes daily during Dine Around.
Eat Your Heart Out in the Tri-Cities kicks off this weekend in support of the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation. It will feature two weeks of dining at six local restaurants who will all be offering up three-course meals for $35 throughout the campaign.
When:
Sunday to Friday, February 24 to March 1, 2013
Sunday to Friday, March 3 to March 8, 2013
Participating restaurants:
Browns Social House (Menu)
Onyx Steakhouse (Menu)
Mr Mikes (Menu)
St James’ Well (Menu)
Saint St Grill (Menu)
Boathouse Restaurant (Menu)
Proceeds benefit the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation, which is the Tri-Cities’ only community hospital serving more than 216,000 residents of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra.
Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation raises funds to provide 70% of equipment needed by the hospital and its staff. The equipment purchased is used to provide excellent care to the second fastest growing community within Fraser Health. From newborn babies to grandparents, more than 100,000 people use Eagle Ridge Hospital services each year.
Be sure to call participating restaurants to make reservations. Follow along on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about this community event and foundation.
Scotiabank is bringing the Stanley Cup to the Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex this weekend as a part of their Canadian community engagement initiative.
Surrey is home to a number of NHL players and Stanley Cup winners including two-time winner Colin Fraser (currently with the LA Kings).
The iconic trophy, the Holy Grail of the rink, will be polished and on display from 12:00pm until 5:00pm on Sunday, February 24, 2013. The event will also feature historic artifacts from the Hockey Hall of Fame, interactive games and giveaways, and the opportunity to have a photo taken with the Stanley Cup.
In case you’re wondering if it’s bad luck to touch the cup, I actually asked the Hockey Hall of Fame about protocol (and superstition) in this case during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics:
“Whether seeing the Stanley Cup while it’s on the road, as you did during the Olympics, or visiting it at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, guests can touch it, hug it, kiss and get their picture taken with it. What is only reserved for players who have won it is hoisting over your head. So unless your name is on it, you can’t lift it.”
Bring the family, bring a camera, and bring your hockey spirit to the Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex (110-16555 Fraser Highway) on Sunday for a hockey-filled afternoon. Follow Scotiabank Hockey Club on Facebook and Twitter for more hockey events, giveaways, and special offers.
As an honorary member of BC’s Sherlock Holmes Society for the last 20 years, I’m pleased to announce that First Impressions Theatre is presenting the Canadian Premiere of Holmes & Watson Save the Empire from February 27th until March 16th in North Vancouver.
Damon Calderwood and Gordon Roberts as Holmes & Watson. Photo credit: Ryan Crocker.
Holmes & Watson Save the Empire! is a family friendly, hilarious musical mystery by Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner in its Canadian premiere. This two-actor exciting musical stars Damon Calderwood and Gordon Roberts (the fearless duo from Billy Bishop Goes to War), accompanied by Chris Robson, guitar, vocals, actor and Renée Bulat, violin.
Once again the fate of the British Empire lies in the hands of the greatest crime fighting team in literature. Holmes and his faithful friend Watson have until midnight to solve the fiendish Moriarty’s deadly puzzle. Where is the QV2? What is Victoria’s secret? How on earth did Holmes end up on the stage of the Gaiety Music Hall? Who is the mysterious Nightingale of Nuremburg? And why is Watson wearing her dress…?
The show opens on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 and will run Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8:00pm until March 16, 2013. Tickets are available online and are $18 for adults, and $16 for students and seniors (plus applicable taxes or fees). The Deep Cove Shaw Theatre is located at 4360 Gallant Avenue in North Vancouver.
If you would like to check out this charming production, I have a pair of tickets to give away for the performance on Thursday, February 28, 2013. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post naming a Sherlock Holmes story or quote (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entires at 12:00pm on Monday, February 25, 2013. Follow First Impressions Theatre on Twitter and Facebook for more information about this production and their other shows throughout the year.
Update The winner is Andy C.!
On this day in 1833, James Murray Yale – namesake of Yale, BC and Yaletown in Vancouver – took command of the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Langley. He was 36 years old and had been with the company for half his life already.
1900s – Yale, BC. VPL Number: 41974. Photo credit: Edwards Brothers.
At the time he took command, Fort Langley was located 4km down the right from where it stands today but it was moved to its present location under his supervision in 1838. Unfortunately, the fort then burned to the ground in 1840.
Here’s an indication of Yale’s independent spirit: When colleagues James Douglas and John Work offered him help after the fire, Yale “had only two requests to make, that they would supply me with six good axes, and be off out of our way as quick as possible.” So the present site is the third Fort Langley. Under Yale the fort thrived, shipping salted salmon to Hawaii. A lot of the men who worked at the fort married women from the Kwantlen nation. Yale was one of them: he and his native wife had two daughters. [Source: Chuck Davis’ Vancouver History]
The town of Yale, just at the start of the Fraser Canyon, was named after him thanks to his long and loyal service. Yaletown in Vancouver was then named after Yale after CPR workers were sent down to Vancouver to work on the rail line’s extension.
1953 – Yaletown yards from the air. VPL Accession Number: 47516. Photographer: The Province.
James Murray Yale was also distantly related to Elihu Yale, after whom Yale University in Connecticut is named.
